June 2015

Nicole Mitchell / Tomeka Reid / Mike Reed Trio

AACM 50th Anniversary Celebration

Nicole Mitchell, flute

Tomeka Reid, cello

Mike Reed, drums

Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present the Chicago-based trio of Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid, and Mike Reed. As members of the AACM, the trio served on the organization's executive board from 2009-11, holding the positions of Chairperson, Treasurer and Vice Chairperson respectively. For this very special trio performance in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the AACM, the trio dips into the extraordinary well of AACM music and furthers the organization’s motto, "Ancient to the Future."

Nicole Mitchell is a creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. As the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Ice Crystal and Sonic Projections, Mitchell has been repeatedly awarded by DownBeat Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association as “Top Flutist of the Year” for the last four years (2010-2014). Mitchell’s music celebrates African American culture while reaching across genres and integrating new ideas with moments in the legacy of jazz, gospel, experimentalism, pop and African percussion through albums such as Black Unstoppable (Delmark, 2007), Awakening (Delmark, 2011), and Xenogenesis Suite: A Tribute to Octavia Butler (Firehouse 12, 2008), which received commissioning support from Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works. Mitchell formerly served as the first woman president of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and has been a member since 1995. In recognition of her impact within the Chicago music and arts education communities, she was named “Chicagoan of the Year” in 2006 by the Chicago Tribune. Ms.Mitchell is a recipient of the prestigious Alpert Award in the Arts (2011) and has been commissioned by Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art among many others. She is currently a Professor of Music, teaching in the "Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology," (ICIT) program at the University of California, Irvine.

Chicago based cellist, composer and educator, Tomeka Reid has been described as "a remarkably versatile player," (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune). Equally adept in classical and jazz contexts, Ms. Reid predominantly finds herself in experimental and improvisatory settings and composes for a wide range of instrumentation, from big band to chamber ensemble. Ms. Reid's music combines her love for groove along with freer concepts. Ms. Reid is an integral part of Dee Alexander's Evolution Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians’ (AACM) Great Black Music Ensemble, and co-leads the internationally recognized string trio, Hear in Now with Italian bassist Silvia Bolognesi and New York violinist and vocalist Mazz Swift. She has worked with Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell, Jeb Bishop, Myra Melford, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Mary Halvorson, Denis Fournier, Edward Wilkerson and Harrison Bankhead. Ms. Reid also leads her own trio featuring guitarist Matt Schneider and bassist Josh Abrams.

Mike Reed is a Chicago-based musician, composer, drummer, and presenter. He has been part of the vibrant Chicago jazz and improvised music community since 1997, performing regularly with local luminaries such as Fred Anderson, David Boykin, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Josh Abrams, Jim Baker, and Rob Mazurek, as well as Chicago Jazz legends Ira Sullivan, Julian Priester and Art Hoyle. Reed leads the widely acclaimed groups, Loose Assembly and People, Places & Things (22, touring extensively in Europe and South America. He was named Chicagoan of the Year for Jazz (2008) by the Chicago Tribune and was distinguished as a “Rising Star” in the 2009 Downbeat Critics Poll. As a fresh addition to the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Reed was named Vice Chairmen in the spring of 2009. As an advocate for the performing arts, Reed also works with the City of Chicago as a member of the Chicago Jazz Festival planning committee, programing partner for the Downtown Sound series at Millennium Park. Reed is the Director of the internationally renown Pitchfork Music Festival.

Ars Nova Workshop is a Philadelphia nonprofit jazz and experimental music presenting organization. ANW informs, inspires, and challenges listeners to elevate the role of jazz, improvisation, and experimental music in contemporary culture. ANW events provide a forum for discourse, emergent trends in contemporary music, and unique forms of cultural exchange, while nurturing a diverse community for innovative music.